Absorption refrigeration process



Aug. 26,1941. i a s. CLAYTON 2253,392

l ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION PROCESS I -v Filed Feb. 2, 1940 l :s Smets-sheet 1 /8 -27v INVENTOR Aug. 26, 194i. R, s. CLAYTON 2,253,892

ABSORPTION REFRIGERATIQN PROCESS Filed Feb. 2, 1940 s sheets-sheet 2 fv RazhJQc/WE I 'W7- mfyMy ATTORNEY.

Aug. zeg-1941.

vla. s. CLAYTON ABSORPTION -REFRIGERATION PROCESS Filed Feb. .2, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 J'. Clayg MNH.

YRalph Patented 26, 1941 UNITED STATE s PATENT OFI-lcs This invention relates to a combination pressure and absorption type of refrigeration system..

The process referred to in this specification and illustrated in the drawings may be carried on in the device shown and described in my copending application for a patent entitled a Combination pressure and absorption type refrigeration device, filed Feb. 2, 1940, Ser. No. 317,013.

This system has for its basic idea the fact that if a given amount of fuel is burned in any sort of an engine toproduce motion, then there is a considerable loss in efliciency and this loss is dissipated for the most part-in the shape of heat. On the other hand, if a given amount of. fuel is burned to produce vaporization-such as for in-- stance inv an yabsorption refrigeration systemthen the motion it would have produced is lost, in as much as the heat would have still been available for the most part in the exhaust of the engine after its use to produce power. With this idea in mind a straight compressiontype of refrigeration system operated by a small mercury motor has been devised and by utilizing the condensing mercury. gas to heat the absorbent and the addition of an analyzer, an absorption chamber anda pair of circulation pumps it also operates as an absorption system; both systems using the same condenser, the same expansion valve and the same chilling coil.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device for developing refrigeration in which a refrigerant gas and anabsorbent for the refrigerant gas is employed. and the boiling polntsof the refrigerant gas and the absorbent lliquid are so far apart that enough heat may be applied to the refrigerant ladened liquid absorbent that the refrigerant will readily and quickly vaporize and separate from the absorbent liquid without approaching the boiling point of the absorbent liquid. The two chemicals selected to be used in this device are trimethylamine, which boilsat +31/2 degrees centigrade, as the refrigerant; and benzyl alcohol, grade, as the absorbent.

In view of the fact that trimethylamine, when transformed from a gas to a liquid, gives ci! a large amount of. latent heat, this also makes it possible to decrease the size of the machine. Inl viewof the large amount of latent heat' given oif by the trimethylamine, it is a further object of this invention to provide a refrigerating system in which-the latent heatgiven of! by the x'eis necessary to be added to the strong liquor to perpetuate the cycle or refrigeration.

A still further object of the invention. is to provide a refrigerating device that is extremely small and simple. This is made possible in view of the fact that one cubic centimeter of benzyl alcohol will. absorb 1198 cubic centimeters of trimethylamine at 25 degrees centigrade, which is by far a greater proportional amount of refrigerant absorbed into an absorbent than has been heretofore used inl either an absorptionv or pressure refrigeration system, and because of the characteristic of a small amount of benzyl alcohol absorbing such a large amount of the trimethylamine, a very much increased amount of refrigeration isrealized over that of other chemicals f now in' use that the size of the refrigerating device may be very much decreased in size and still deliver as much refrigeration as yother larger machines.

It is also a further characteristic of benzyl alcohol 'and trimethylamine that they will perform to produce refrigeration under pressures as low asv twenty-five pounds, therefore the refrig-Y eration device may be built of much lighter weight materials than other machines having the same capacity of refrigeration as my machine. Due to the low pressure employed in my machine. it is obvious that little or no trouble will be experienced from leakage of either the refrigerant or vthe absorbent through or from the various which boils at +204 degrees centiinjector, the view being taken along the line. IV-IV in Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of` frigerant gas is-used to partially heat the refrigerant ladened absorbent (strong liquor), in the system so that only. a small amount oil-heat parts of the machine.

'I'hese and other objects of my invention will' be more fully .explained as this description progresses, e

Now referring to the accompanying drawings; Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional detailview through the mercury boiler,v turbine. combination mercury condenser and strongy liquor boiler for the refrigerating device.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device shown in Fig.

1, parts being broken away for convenience of illustration. Fig. 3 .is a plan view ot the device shown Fig. 1.

Fig'. 4 is a sectional view throughthe mercury the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the pumps, compressor, and motor for the driv of the pumps and compressor. r

Fig. 611s a sectional view through the driving motor for the Vpumps and compressor, the view being taken along the line VI-VI in 1|."ig'.'5.

ing system.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the absorption tank shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view o1 the absorption tank, the view being taken along the line X12-XI in Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view of the absorption tank, the view being taken along the line XII-XII in Fig. 9.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the drip plates in the absorption chamber.-

Similar numerals of reference designate the same parts throughout the several ilgures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings is shown my improved refrigerator device, in-which is shown a mercury boiler A which comprises a hollow conical shaped element I positioned inside of a second conical shaped'elernent II, there being a space I2 between the two cones I0 and Il to receive mercury that is to be heated. At I3 is shown the tip of a gas burner that will put a flame inside the cone I8 so as to heat the mercury in the space I2.

At I4 is a boiler portion having an opening I5 therein to receive heated mercury from the space I2, the mercury spreading. over the floor of the boiler-portion I4 `so as'to have an area from which vapor may rise and raise a pressure in the boiler portion I4.

At B is a turbine type motor which comprises a finned turbine wheel I6 that is carried on. a

shaft I1, the turbine wheel being revolvable in a case I8 which contains a port I8 through which is fed the mercury vapor, under pressure, from the boiler portion I4 through the pipe Ila: to the port I9 and through the turbine wheel I8. At 2| is an exhaust passage which receives the exhaust of the turbine B and discharges it into the condenser C which comprises a conical shaped through the analyzer to the upper chamber 4l `thereof.

At l4I is a -pipe leading from the analyzer chamber -to and through a counterflow heat exchanger X and continues as pipe la to the upper end of the condenser E. At 42 is a pipo that leads from. the lower end of the condenser E to, and discharges into an expansion valve F which'in turn discharges into the upper end of the chilling coil G. At 43 is a pipe leading from the lower end of the chilling coil G to and entering the lower side portion of the Vabsorption tank H.

At the point 44 the pipe I5 enters the top of the absorption tank H and leads to the intake connection of a rotary compressor K. At 48 is a pipe, one end of which connects to the discharge end of the compressor K and the other end connects into the pipe 4I at the point l1 just ahead of the heat exchanger X.

At 48 is a. pipe, one end of which connects-into the bottom of theV analyzer D and the other end connects with the intake of a small gear pump L. At 48 is a pipe, one end of which connects to the discharge side of the small gear pump L and leads to andenters the upper side portion of the absorption tank H at the point 58.

At 5I is a pipe, one end of which connects into the bottom portion of the labsorption chamber H at the point 52 so as to drain the contents of the lower portion of the absorption tank H. The other end of the pipe 5I connects with the intake of a secondgear pump M, which is some-f what larger than the pump L. l

At 3Ia is a pipe, one end of which connects with the` discharge side of the pump M and the other end of the pipe lla connects to the outer lowerv end portion of the counterflow heat exchanger X. .At 32a is a pipe, one end of which element 22 that is provided with a helical passage 28 that drains through -an opening 2l into the cavity C' from lwhich a pipe 28 leads to an injector 21 that has a discharge opening 28 that opens into a mercury receiving chamber 28 that drains through a pipe 30 back into the space I2 in the boiler A. At `8| is 'a small pipe connecting between the portion I 4 of the boiler A and the top portion of the mercury receiving chamber 28 so that there will be equal vapor pressure in both chambers I4 and 28 and the mercury level 82 will always be the same in both chambers I4- and 28 or I2 and 28 and the condensed mercury will always flow from the injector 21 into the chamber 2l. 1 l In the helical passage 28 of the condenser C isa generator coil of pipe 8l, the upperend oi' which extends as pipe 88h toand discharges into an analyzer device D that comprises a closed housing that has an upwardly curved bottom "a that forms a V-shape 88 at the bottom of the analyzer to facilitate completev drainage therefrom as will later be describe In the analyzer D is a series of horizontally disposed plates 88 and 81. lThe plates 38 having holes 28 in the outer edge portion thereof, and.

the plates 81 having a hole 88 at the center thereofso as to formel zig-zag passage or lineof travel connects .to the upper outside portion of the counterilow heat` exchanger X and the other en'd connects with a reflected heat absorber 83e. At 88d is a pipeconnecting between the reflected heat absorber 83e and the generator coil of pipe Il in the helical condenser channel 28 in the housing C.

In Figures 1 and 2 is shown a pump device that is driven by the turbine shaft I1. On the shaft I1 is shown a worm 52a which is in mesh with a worm. wheel 88 that` is rigidly mounted on a shaft 54 on which is rigidly mounted a bevel gear wheel `55 and one gear 88 of a gear pump N which in turn drives the second gear 51 of thegear pump N. At I8 is shown a pipe leading to the intake'of the pump N, and at 581s a pipe carrying the discharge from the pump N.

In Figure 5 is shown a cross sectional view of two pumps L and M, a compressor K. and a hydraulic motor O for driving the pumps L and M, andthe compressor K. In this assembly is shown a shaft 88 carried in bearings 8| and 82 at either end of the shaft III and in the housing elements of the motor O and pump L.

In Figures 5 and 6 is shown a sectional view of the hydraulic motor O in which is shown a housing 8l in whichv is housed a rotor I4 that is rigidly mounted on the shaft .80. The rotor Il is provided with a plurality of plates Il slidably mounted in the rotor 84 and adapted to fit against the walls of the housing in which they revolve. 4'I'lrie housing 88 is provided with an intake chamber and port 88 and an exhaust port and chamber 81, the 4pipe Il discharging into the port 88 and chamber in the housing Il connected therewith; and the pipe I8 is connected into the from the-motor chamber opening into the ex- The compressor K is made similar to the motor 0, and the pumps L and M are common ordinary gear pumps, all of whichl have their driving gear or rotor rigidly mounted on the shaft 60 so that as the motor 0 runs, the pumps and compressor will cause pressure and flow in the system in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figures 1, 3, 5, 6, '7, 8 and 9.

Attention is called to the fact, that as shown in Fig. 1, there is a packing 88 around the turbine shaft I1 and between 'the turbine and the worm 52a; and in Fig. `2 as shown at 89 there is a packing around the shaft 54 to stop any flowbetween the pump N and the housing of the drive therefor; and as shown in Fig. 5, at 18 there is a packing around the shaft 80 to stop any ilow between the pump M and the motor O.

The turbine, pumps and motorshown in Figures ,1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 are shown fory illustration and it must be understood that other types of turbines or engines, pumps, motors and compressors may be employed sok long as they are applicable to the refrigerating device and system shown in the drawings and described in this specification.

tion P', and a bottom closure section Q that join the sections Z in a manner similar to the sections Z joining each other, there being a chamber R formed in the upper closure elementlP; and in the lower closure element Q is formed a .chamber S which isA drained through the pipe 5I.

-In the chamber S is a horizontally disposed pipe 80 one end of which is provided with a vertically disposed reducer T-tting 8| and having the large opening thereof directed upwardly and the small opening thereof directed upwardly as shownin Fig. 9. The other end of the'pipe 80 is mounted in a fitting 83 carried on the inside face of the wall of the closure element Q and opening into the pipe 43 previously described.

At 48 is.a pipe passing through the side wall of the upper closure element P and being in such a position as to ,discharge onto the ilange ele- The absorption tank H comprises a closed tank l -tral portion thereof for purposes that will later be made obvious.

At Y is shown cap and flange elements comprising a cap portion 15 and an outwardly ex` tending and upwardly sloping flange portion 18. The cap and flange elements Y are supported by spacer stud elements 11 positioned between the flange portions 16 and the flange elements 13 and being riveted to said elements so as to support the cap 15 in a position housing the tube 12 with the iiange 18 extending outwardly and upwardly beneath the ilange 13 soA as to leavean open space between the cap 15 and the tube 12, and betwee. the lower edge of the cap 15 and the plate 1 I, and between the outer edge of the flange 16 andthe wall of the tank H and the flange elements 13.

At 18 is shown a plate concentrically positioned on top of each cap' portion 15 and being permanently riveted thereto. The outer edge of the plates 18 are turned upwardly and are serrated or provided with vertical saw cuts 19 for purposes that will later be made obvious. v

The absorption tank H is built up of `a series of duplicate sections Z, each vof which comprise an inverted cup shaped elements X, the open end of the cup shaped section Z being slipped over the closed end of the adjacent section Z so that the end closure of the cup shaped elements Z forms the plate 1| above described. Each inverted cup shaped element Z containing the cup. anges and plate elements 15, 18, 13and. 18 and having the tubular element 12 integrally formed thereon.

The absorption tank H has a top closure secment 13. Each section P, Z and Q contain one stage of the .process of the refrigerant gas, trimethylamine, being'absorbed'in the absorbent,

benzyl alcohol.

While the power end of this device is described y as beinga mercury vapor turbine, driving a pump which circulates a liquid (benzyl alcohol), which in turn drives a motor that drives a pair of pumps and a compressor for the circulation end of the refrigeration system.

The object of this arrangement is that should there by anyk leakage of 'mercury vapor from the turbine there would be no Way for the mercury to ilnd its way into the refrigeration circulatory system. A further object is that there may be instances where it would be desirable to position the mechanical power .end of the device remote to the refrigeration end of the device. However, it must also be understood that, if desired, the pump Nl andthe motor O may be dispensed with and the exhaust of the turbine back to the mercury boiler system for further vaporization for the purpose of driving the turbine and heating the strong liquor of the refrigeration system as will later be described. Q

The mercury injector comprises a finned rotor U that -is rigidly mounted on one end of a shaft V. On the other end ofthe shaft V is a gear W which is in mesh with the gear 55 that is on the shaft 54. The rotor U is revolvable in a housing 21 and is driven by the shaft V which is driven by the gears W and 55. The housing 21 is positioned over the mercury receiving chamber 29 and is provided on one'side with an opening through which the pipe 25 dischargeseondensed mercury from the condenser chamber C' into the housing 21. In the other side of the housing "21 is a discharge opening 28 through which the mercury may discharge into the chamber.28. As the rotor U revolves the mercury will exposed to the temperature surrounding the condenser E. At 96 is a pipe connecting between the valve 95 and a second thermostatically operated valve 91 of the snap open and shut type, and whose temperature responsive element is exposed to the space being cooled.

'I'he operation of the device is as follows; the

lchemicals used herein, as before stated, are benzyl alcohol as the absorbent, and trimethylamine the turbine 'and against the fins of the rotorl I6 of the turbine B and finally discharges through the exhaust 2l to be discharged into the helical condenser channel 23 and against the generator pipe coil 33 therein and where the mercury vapor is condensed and ows, as liquid mercury, through the helical channel 23 to the condenser chamber C' from Where the mercury fiows thru the pipe 429 to an injector device shown in Figs. 1 and 4,

and which discharges the mercury through the passage 28 into the receiving chamber 29 from where the mercury fiows through the pipe 90 into the boiler space I2 to repeat the cycle just described. At 3| isa pipe connecting between the boiler space I4 and the top of the receiving chamber 29 so as to maintain an equal pressure in both the chamber 29 and boiler chamber I4 for the purpose of maintaining equal liquid levels in the boiler chamber i4 and receiving chamber 29 so as to not interfere with the entrance of mercury into the receiving chamber 29 that is being brought in by the injector device.

The turbine B being driven as above described,

in turn drives the pump N which circulates a liquid, preferably benzyl alcohol, to drive the motor O, which in turn drives the pumps L and M and the compressor K for the purpose of circulating the refrigeration producing chemicals in the direction of the arrows shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 as will later be described.

In the lower portion S of the absorption tank H is a strong liquor which is composed of benzyl alcohol that has absorbed or is heavily ladened with trimethylamine. This, the strong liquor, is being pumped by the pump M from the absorption tank H through the pipes 5I and 3Ia through the outside portion of the counter flow heat ex- .changer X and pipe 33a to the reflected heat absorber 33C, and then through the pipe 33d into the generating coil 33 in the helical channel 23 where the mercury vapor at a temperature of about 454 degrees centlgrade is being discharged from the exhaust of the turbine against the generator coil-33 in which is contained the strong liquor above described.

Inasmuch as the benzyl alcohol boils at approximately +204' degrees centigrade, trimethyll amine at +31/2 degrees centigrade, ample heat is transferred to the benzyl alcohol, (strong 4 liquor) ,from the exhaust mercury vapor from the turbine to cycle the strong liquor in the absorption system, and at the same'time the boiling point of the mercury being at .a higher figure than strong liquor, the cool strong liquor furnishes the necessary cooling effect to condense the mercury in the condenser channel 23.

casacca heated by the condensing mercury, rises under pressure of the heatand that set up by the 'pump M through the pipe 33h 'into the analyzer D where the trimethylamine refrigerant gas, due to the temperature thereof, separates from the benzyl alcohol and begins to cool. The refrig' erant gas, trimethylamine, rises and travels upwardly through the analyzer in the direction of the arrows, (see Fig. 8), to and through the pipe 4|, (see Fig. 7)", into and through the inner pipe of the counter fiow heat exchanger X, and then through the pipe 4| a into the condenser coil E From the pipe coil 93 the strong liquor, now 'l5 where condensation of therefrlgerant gas takes place; and simultaneously, the benzyl alcohol lfrom which the trimethylamine has been liberated by the h'eat, is draining, or is being pumped by the pump L from the analyzer through the pipe 48 to and through the pump L and on through the pipe 49 to the absorption chamber H as will later be described.

The liquid refrigerant, trimethylamine that is in the condenser coil E is 'now being forced through the pipe 42 to and through the expansion valve F where the liquid refrigerant is expanded to a gas and is discharged into the chilling coil G where refrigeration takes place, or in other words, the cold refrigerant gas is now absorbing heat in the chilling coil G that it lost in the condenser E and in the process of being expanded to a gas in the expansion valve F.

The refrigerant gas after passing through the chilling coil G is now transferred to the bottom of the absorption chamber H through the pipe 43 where the refrigerant gas is discharged through the pipe (see Fig. 9), and T-fitting 8l against the bottom of the plate 18 into the chamber S of the absorption tank H from where the refrigerant gas passes upwardly through the absorption tank H to contact andbe absorbed into the absorbent as will later be explained.

During the process just described, the pump L is pumping the Weak liquor absorbent, .benzyl alcohol, from the bottom of the analyzer D through the pipes 48 and 49 to the top of the The liquid absorbent, benzyl alcohol, now fills the cups formed by the flange elements 13 and .16, and also fills the-cups formed by the plate elements H and tubular elements 'l2 and the side walls of the sections Z, and the top of the tubular element 'I2 and overiiows through the tube l2 into the trays 19 from where it overflows through the slots 19 and drips onto the next lower flange element 13 and fills the cup shaped formation thereof and so on through the several duplicate stages of .the absorption chamber back to and through the reflected heat exchanger 44e where the strong liquor absorbs additional heat that is reflected from the boiler surface I0, and from the reflected heat absorber 33o the strong liquor travels through the pipe 39d to the generator coil 33 to repeat the cycle above described.

During ,the downward travel of the benzyl alcohol absorption tank H as above described, there is a simultaneous action of the refrigerant gas, trimethylamine, taking place as follows: As the benzyl alcohol flows downwardly through the several Istages of the absorption tank as described, the trimethylamine that is being discharged from the T-fltting 3l strikes the bottom of the tray 18 thereabove and flows around the edges thereof and over the surface of the benzyl alcohol in the tray 18 where some absorption of the trimethylamine into the benzyl alcohol takes place. The remaining trimethylamine then flows upwardly through the tube 12 whereupon the trimethylamine contacts the benzyl alcohol in the chamber above the lower tray 18 and is forced downwardly around thev outside of the tube 12 and bubbles through the benzyl alcohol under the flange element 16 and aroundthe edge thereof, then upwardly under the flange element 13 and up through the hole or passage 14 and under the second tray 18 and over the surface of the benzyl alcohol held in the flange element 13 thereunder, and then around the edge and over the top of the second tray 18 to contact a surface of benzyl alcohol in the tray 18 and then pass on upwardly through the second tubular elerefrigeration.

ment 12, all this travel being indicated bythe y arrows in the drawings and represent-.s the rst stage of the process of the refrigerant, trimethylamine being absorbed by the absorbent, benzyl alcohol, In Fig. 9 is shown an absorption tank providing for four duplicate stages of absorption as above described.` It will be understood that as the trimethylamine travels through the stages, its volume becomes less, due to the fact thatI it is being absorbed into the benzyl alcohol. Attention is called to the fact that the benzyl alcohol enters the top of the absorption tank at the point 50 as a weak liquor, that is, it contains little or no trimethylamine and as it travels downwardly through the several stages of absorption above described, it finally arrives in the chamber S in the bottom of the absorption tank H as a strong liquor, that is, the-benzyl alcohol is now saturated or nearly so, with the trimethylamine.

In bubbling the refrigerant, trimethylamine, upwardly through the absorbent, benzyl alcohol, in the absorption tank H as above described, it might be that some ofthe trimethylamine failed to absorb in the benzyl alcohol and, if so, it accumulated in the chamber R in the upper part of the absorption tank H as an unabsorbed gas that will. have to be disposed of. The disposition is made as follows.

The compressor K forms a vacuum in the pipe line and in the chamber R in the absorption tank H, and the unabsorbed refrigerant gas in the chamber R of the absorption tank H is drawn through the pipe 45 into the compressor K, where the gas is compressed, and due to the pressure, the gas will liquify and at which time it will produce its latent heat and be pumped through the pipe 46 to the point 41 where it is discharged into the pipe 4I and the contents of the pipes 4| and 4B pass through the counter now heat exchanger X where the contents of the -pipe 4I gives off its heat which is absorbed by the contents of the outside portion ofthe heat exchanger X and then flows on through the pipe 4Ia into the condenser E for the final condensation and then to the expansion valve F and the chilling coil G to repeat the cycle of refrigeration above described.

Owing to the fact that variable pressure will be required in the condenser E to cause condensaticn at variable temperatures of the space in which the condenser may be placed. and to further the economical operation of the machine, the two thermostatically operated Valves 85 and 81 are placed in the fuel line 84-83l of the burner I3 and functions as follows.

In summary, then, of the general characteristics of the above machine compared to existing types, the following stand out Vas the most important:

i l Engine l 1. Adapted to automatic operation from a thermostat.

A mercury vapor turbine, easy starting, no

valves or adjustments.

Nota- Any engine with exhaustl gas heater attachment may be used on the larger sizes where automatic operation is not required.

2. Concentrates its waste heat to be used in heating the absorbentfbenzyl alcohol.

The temperature of the mercury vapor entering the liquid cooled condenser is well above that required to heat the absorbent.

3. Made with hydraulic drive-to prevent the mercury from entering the refrigeration cycle and enabling the entire systemv to be brazed shut, preventing leakage.

System A system presenting the characteristics of both the compression and absorption types of refrigeration, and maintaining the separate component functions in a definite and exact relationship, so as to produce a "forced freezing cycle giving definite and unvarying results.

'A system especially designed to take full advantage of the outstanding characteristics of the chemicals used, among which are` A refrigerating gas of high latent heat-5820 l ca./mole Troutons constant 21.1. Thompson, H. W., and Linnett, J. W., Trans. Faraday sec. 31,

681-5 (1936) making profitable an exchange ofA heat between the condensing refrigerant gas and the saturated absorbent.

A high absorption ratio where 1l98is volume of gas (reduced to zero cent. and'160 mm.) dissolved in one volume of solvent at 25 deg. cent.

' when the partial pressure of the gas equals 760 mm. Ibid., III, 269.

Pumps the absorption chamber, operating under vacuum to the compression side of the system, and the other acting as a flow meter limiting the flow of the weak alcohol from the analyzerv to the absorption chamber and maintaining an .exact volume of flow ratio between them, corresponding to the difference in volume between the'weak and saturated alcohol. This maintains a uniform vacuum in the absorption chamber and increases emciency.

The compressor suction line is connected to the -top of the absorption chamber-reinforcing the vacuum and drawing its charge of refrigerant gas from the expansion coil into the bottom of the absorption cham-ber and up through its various baille stages and maintaining a high turbulence in the entire chamberv thus greatly gravity types in which the volume of gas entering the chamber and contacting the alcohol is limited by the amount of absorption.

Absorption chamber Forced circulation type absorption chamber in which the full eect of the forced circulation of boththe absorbent and the gas is utilized.

Made in sections-maintaining maximum contact between'them, and so that any degree of saturation may be obtained -by adding sufficient stages.

Control Double thermstatic control-controlling the volumel of flow according to the need of -condensing pressure and controlling its duration ac- 'cording to the need for refrigeration.

1. The process of producing refrigeration by absorption comprising the heating of a refrigerant-laden absorbent, passing the heating refrigerant and absorbent to an analyzer for separating the refrigerant and the absorbent, passing the refrigerant to a condenser, then to a chilling coil, passing the refrigerant from the chilling coil -to an absorben passing the absorbent from the analyzer to' the absorber, the

refrigerant and .absorbent commingling in the absorber to produce a rich liquor plus some unabsorber, passingthe absorbent from the separator to the absorber where the absorbent and refrigerant flow in opposed courses 'to form a relfrigerant-ladexi absorbent plus some .unabsorbed refrigerant, withdrawing the lrefrigerant-laden Aabsorbent from the absorber to be reheated, and

Having described my invention, what I claim withdrawing the unabsorbed refrigerant from the absorber for injection into the condenser.v

3. 'I'he hereindescribed process of producing refrigeration by absorption comprising the heating of a refrigerant-laden absorbent, driving off the refrigerant by vaporization, separating the refrigerant and absorbent in an analyzer, passing the refrigerant to a condenser and chilling coil, passing the spent refrigerant to an absorber, carrying the separated absorbent from the analyzer to the absorber, passing the refrigerant and absorbent through the absorber in opposed tortuous courses, directing unabsorbed refrigerant gases from thel absorber to 'the condenser for a further cycle of operation, and directing the refrigerant-laden absorbent from the absorber to be again heated to repeat the cycle.

4. 'I'he process of producing refrigeration by the absorption process in which a refrigerantladen absorbent is heated to the point where the refrigerant will separate from the absorbent and then passing said heated refrigerant and absorbent to an analyzing chamber in which the refrigerant separates as a gas from the absorbent and the refrigerant gas is passedon -and condensed to create a -low temperature of the refrigerant, and then expanding the refrigerant into a chilling coil whereupon the refrigerant absorbs heat and is returned'to a gas and delivered into an absorption chamber; and then pumping the absorbent from the analyzing chamber through one passage of a heat exchanger to cool absorbent into the absorption chamber so as to obtain maximum absorption of the refrigerant gas by the absorbent, and the removing of the refrigerant-laden absorbent from the absorption chamber and returning it to be heated to repeat the foregoing described cycle, and increasing the amount of absorption of the refrigerant gas by the absorbent` by removing the refrigerant-laden absorbent from the labsorption 'chamber so that small successive amounts o1' refrigerant gas and refrigerant-laden absorbent will be drawn into the conduit and heat exchanger, and during the time of travel of the refrigerant gas and refrigerant-laden absorbent through the heat exchanger, the refrigerant gas will absorb into the adjacent refrigerant-laden absorbent.

RALPH S. CLAYTON.' 

